Council reverses, will replace McCann temporarily

CHULA VISTA — Chula Vista will appoint a temporary replacement to fill in for Councilman John McCann while he is on military duty for one year, despite agreeing last month to leave the seat vacant.

The change was made after Councilwoman Pamela Bensoussan said she gave it more thought and decided it would be best to fill the seat. She brought up the issue Tuesday at the City Council meeting and got immediate support from Councilman Rudy Ramirez.

Mayor Cheryl Cox and Councilman Steve Castaneda said they preferred to leave the seat vacant, although Cox voted with Bensoussan and Ramirez to start the selection process.

All members agreed to use the same process they are using to fill the vacant port commissioner seat, which is to accept applications for a month and conduct public interviews. McCann left for Iraq on July 21.

Several community members lobbied the council to select the runner-up in the last council election to fill in for McCann. That person is Russ Hall, who narrowly lost to Bensoussan.

Cox supported the idea of selecting the runner-up, but none of the other council members backed her.

McCann's wife, Myllissa, told the council that McCann is preparing a letter from Iraq to recommend replacements for his seat. She said since it's his seat, his opinion should be weighed more heavily than anyone else's.

“He was elected to it twice,” she said. “None of you were elected to his seat, he was. He should be able to appoint whoever he darn well pleases.”

Applications will be available tomorrow on the city's Web site or in the City Clerk's office on Monday. To download the application online, go to
www.chulavistaca.gov
.